The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for mowing a wide swath in a single pass of the mowing apparatus. In more detail, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus capable of mowing a swath up to three times wider than conventional known mowing equipment without compromising the efficiency and reliability of the apparatus.
Most heavy-duty and/or commercial mowers used in the mowing industry for mowing the shoulders of highways and other open expanses of grass or other ground cover such as is found at airports and the like are designed to be pulled and powered by farm tractors. Such mowers generally consist of a central mower pulled behind the farm tractor with side-mounted mowers on wings as shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,135,079 to Dunn and 4,495,754 to Cartner. However, farm tractors and drag-type mowers are relatively expensive, and the equipment is very heavy and expensive to operate. With over three million miles of highways in the United States alone, it requires a tremendous amount of money and time to keep such right of ways mowed because such mowers generally cut a swath of only approximately 16 feet in width. Consequently, even on a relatively narrow county road, as many as three passes may be required to mow the right of way on just one side of the road. Eight to ten passes may be required to mow the right of way on one side of an interstate highway.
Additionally, such mowers are susceptible to damage from encountered obstacles so that the operator of such mowers must always watch behind the mower while mowing operations are underway. Of course the diversion of the operator's attention away from the front of an apparatus moving in a forward direction creates obvious safety problems. The above-noted U.S. Pat. No. 3,135,079 describes an impact valve assembly intended to prevent damage to the mowers from encountered obstacles, but the apparatus described in that patent is still characterized by the disadvantages imposed by the relatively narrow width of the swath being mowed and the heavy and inefficient nature of mowing operations.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,177,638 to Johnson discloses a wide swath mower that is convertible for highway travel having hydraulically-driven mower heads and a self-propelled chassis with three additional mower heads, one in front of the vehicle and two mounted to the sides. Again, however, the side-mounted mower heads pivot from the back of the chassis to a position parallel to the operator during mowing operations such that the apparatus described in that patent still suffers from the disadvantage of requiring that the operator's attention be directed elsewhere rather than to the front of the vehicle. It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to overcome these disadvantages and limitations of the known prior art apparatus for mowing the right of way of roads and/or other large expanses of grass or other ground cover.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for mowing a wide swath which is simple to operate, highly mobile and which can be operated efficiently.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for mowing a wide swath in which the operator's attention is at all times directed forward.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for mowing a wide swath which is powered by hydraulics and therefore has no right angle drives and/or belts.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of mowing a swath of up to three times wider than conventional, known mowers, and to which additional section(s) can be added once the site is reached, but which is still capable of being trailered from location to location without any permits or other authorization from traffic control and/or law enforcement officials.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus for mowing a wide swath which is not likely to be damaged by impact with an encountered obstacle.
It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatus capable of mowing a wide swath which, in addition to being capable of mowing a wider swath than conventional and/or known mowers, is better able to follow the contour of the swath being mowed than known mowers.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a method and apparatus for mowing a wide swath which is also capable of mowing around signs, trees, and other obstacle encountered during mowing operations.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus capable of mowing a swath of variable width.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a wing having a plurality of mowers mounted thereto which can be mounted to a tractor or other vehicle having a prime mover and power take off mounted thereon and which is capable of mowing a wide swath while maintaining flexibility of operation and the ability to closely follow the contour of the swath being mowed.
Other objects, and the advantages of the present invention, will be apparent of those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of a presently preferred embodiment thereof.